anyone roll up their bedding/tent into one big bundle?

[enicma]

hey guys

I have been looking at rooftop tents for a while and trying to figure out the real advantages. Principal advantage to me seems to be ease of setup/quick setup time when making & breaking camp daily. Leaving the bedding in place inside the tent seems to be one of the main reasons RTTs have the quick setup advantage.

My current setup requires a lot of work; tent, 4 pads or a big air mattress to pump, sleeping bags all in their own little roll and bag.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried getting a nice foam mat for a ground tent, leaving blankets or bags and pillows inside and rolling up the whole kit & kaboodle in one go and tossing it in a duffel or just strapping it. Am I missing something? This seems like it would make ground tent setup way faster (and save a couple grand over a RTT.)

If anyone has done this I'd love to hear your experience.

Not trying to start a RTT vs ground tent thread, that seems to have been done. I do have 2 young kids so every second counts when it comes to camp setup!

 

[jeep-N-montero]

In addition to taking up a lot of space you would need to ensure that every crumb the kids drop are cleaned up and everything is 100% dry before rolling up, or the next time you go to use it you may find holes from mice trying to get to the crumbs or mold from not being dry. Not to mention that setting a tent up with a bunch of stuff already in it may present its own issues.

 

[krick3tt]

How young? Perhaps old enough to participate in the set up in order to make it a fun and learning adventure. Everybody has a job to do for the camping adventure.

 

[Robert Bills]

An Australian "swag" is similar in concept, but is typically for one person. My understanding is that ARB is marketing a "double" but I have never seen one anywhere except their website. [Cruiser Outfitters may have some or can order one if you are interested.]

See this relatively recent thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...sie-Swags-and-Swag-Brands-Available-in-the-US, also these:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/71924-Aussie-camping-swag

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/23265-Looking-for-a-Good-Swag

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/158403-Kodiak-Swag

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/124542-ARB-Skydome-Swag-Series

 

[enicma]

Wow that oztent looks pretty cool... not cheap but that setup looks easy as pie. I like it!

Those swags are pretty much exactly what I'm looking for! Albeit they do mostly seem to be for one person. I have a 3 year old boy and a 5 month old girl... they aren't much use around camp yet (my daughter's already been on five camping trips totalling about 2 weeks)

Thanks for the suggestions... If I give a go at rolling up my bundle I'll report back.

Nick

 

[DVD]

Missing the tent, but when we sleep in the back of the vehicle and move to a new spot every night, we typically roll up all our bedding.

The "insta-bed" (pat pending), consists of laying down a liner (an old comforter), then an air-mattress, sleeping bags, and pillows, then rolling-up the whole mess for travelling configuration. I guess you could swap out the liner for a tent, or do the tent and bedding as separate items.

When it's time to make camp, unroll the "system," inflate the mattress, and in under 5 min, sleeping mode is ready: